If you have been lucky to enjoy the privilege of dealing professionally with high-end for many years, you will inevitably become more and more demanding over time. On the other hand there are formative experiences that you’ll never forget. Such a rank on my personal »leaderboard« is taken by Raidho, although the speakers of the Danish high-end manufacture only hit my screen on detours: many years ago, at the Munich fair, Nordost was giving demos with an X2, a small floorstander. Though I was used to quite a lot from their expertly compiled and carefully put up stereo systems, particularly in terms of resolution and microdynamics, it was just these characteristics which fascinated me back then; moreover, the sound image was exceptionally coherent and full of inner suspense. A lot of visits to Raidho, or Dantax Radio respectively, followed in the course of years until I was finally presented the ScansonicHD loudspeakers there.

It wasn’t easy to avoid the idea of a competition on company’s own ground; after all, the models by ScansonicHD obviously capture design and technical features of the Raidho speakers. And soundwise they presented themselves at demos in a way which, with an eye to Raidho, didn’t hardly make them appear less controversial. Bearing this background in mind, I had awaited dealing with the MB5 B at my listening room with bated breath, and during these weeks I had indeed one or two crucial experiences, that much I can anticipate. However, as to the profiling of both brands, it becomes clear on closer inspection that the people in charge do by no means intend to cut the ground under their own feet. Thus the XL floorstander designs and some technological goodies remain reserved for Raidho while ScansonicHD puts itself in more affordable price ranges. Nonetheless all ScansonicHD models are developed and built at the company site in Pandrup, Denmark, whereby a lot of manual work is involved. Recently Olaf Sturm could convince himself of the local customs and possibilities; his report is well worth reading and it can be found here.

Besides a conscious renunciation of too much automation, a high level of self-competence and an accordingly high production depth are part of the essence of a company that sticks to the classic manufacturing idea for its two high-end brands. Hence all drivers are made inhouse which should not least be due to the interim ownership of ScanSpeak. The ScansonicHD portfolio comprises two series each of which includes several floorstanders, two or one compact monitor respectively plus one centre speaker and one subwoofer. Furthermore, with the MK5 the range also includes a frameless compact monitor. Being the latest extension to the product line the MB series, which is above the M series, includes four floorstanders of which the MB5 B is the second largest model and thus comes right below their own reference MB 6 B. The MB5 B is recommended for medium-sized rooms which is to be understood primarily in view of its low-frequency equipment. In this respect the 1.18 metre (4 ft. 6 in.) tall loudspeaker causes no problems anyway, and with only 26 centimetres (10.2 in.) in width it leaves a very elegant impression.

Furthermore, this charming appearance is also due to a beautiful backside which sets distinctive accents with a recess for the single-wiring terminal and the three small ventilation openings above it. The asymmetrical backward tapering cabinet shape rounds off an organic design, yet basically the curved sides serve to avoid standing waves inside the body. On its front panel and the lid we have decorative inlays made of carbon fibres which give added stability to the MDF housing. A propos: lovers of classic wood veneers will be glad to see that, in addition to the mat lacquer finishes in black and white with silver feet, there is now also a model version in mat real wood walnut veneer available with black feet for an extra charge of 1,900 euros per pair.

Appropriate means

To a certain degree, the technical concept of the new MB B series is based on its predecessors, but for the reissue ScansonicHD has gone much further than just doing refinements on details. After twelve years of experience in the development and production of Raidho loudspeakers, the design team has incorporated some features of Raidho’s TD series into the transducers of the MB B-series from ScansonicHD and revised its concept from scratch. According to Production Manager Freddy Andersen the MB 5 and the MB5 B have nothing in common except for their look. The declared objective in the development of the MB B-series was to improve above all the spatial imaging and the bass precision, compared to the previous models. Apart from the crossover layout, the numerous means for this purpose can be summarised in two keywords: resonance control and air flow guidance.

For this reason the elaborated cabinet design contains a separate closed chamber for the tweeter and the midrange driver that sits below the HF driver. Within this joint section there’s a small compartment to acoustically isolate the tweeter from the midrange driver. The three woofers are run in parallel and housed in acoustic chambers which are not completely sealed on the rear so they can divert the backward radiated sound into the bass reflex volume. The latter extends through the rear part of the body almost over its full height and vents the already mentioned round reflex ports which are, of course, flow-optimised. While the ventilation of the woofers also heps to counteract compression effects, the chambers of midrange and bass drivers are damped with fibreglass wool. The same material was also attached around the woofer chambers to eliminate reflexions on both the speaker chassis and the sidewalls. For the same reason the engineers applied mineral wool at precisely defined spots on the back wall and in the rear zone of the sidewalls. What importance they ascribe to the resonance optimisation of the cabinet, which is already very solid because of its chambers, is also shown by the fact that the construction is additionally reinforced by a longitudinal and a transverse bracing.